So, in the end, I’m alone. Although I have no intimate relationships with anybody at the moment, I find that I don’t particularly miss that. I’d rather be alone than settle for less than what I feel that I deserve...

I find it hard to reach out to my colleagues. In my Australian culture, grief is largely seen as a private affair, punctuated by long and absent silences. Needing a national ‘Are you OK’ day says a lot about us, and how hard it is to have conversations outside socially acceptable boundaries...

In the 1950s, we were “America.” People emulated us; wanted our products and blindly tried to fit round pegs into square holes. You could emigrate to the US, and you could be “American” in that era, but that meant emulating “white” America…

I am Dutch, grew up in Germany and went to an American international school. My husband is Japanese, grew up in Ecuador and went to both Japanese and American international schools there. We often joke that our family is like the UN with all its different cultures and languages…

Sara promptly opened the fridge, retrieved sustenance in the form of canned tuna and continued. After the session was over and everyone had left, I returned to my fridge and to my horror (distaste, displeasure, disdain, etc.) saw $1.10 lying on the counter…

I soon realized that I’d avoid anyone who was Black unless they were someone my inner circle knew. I didn’t want to make friends with everyone. I just wanted to survive. What I didn’t realise was how racist I became to protect myself…

We were both required to take a placement test. I didn’t place very high, but brought my results to my advisor and got signed up no problem. Samiya, on the other hand, took it and scored very high. When she brought her results to her advisor, he said, “No way is this your score. No way a person like you can score this high”…

“We African-Americans understand. It is a Black experience” with a gesture that included Patrice. Patrice cut her off immediately. She held up her hand and said, “No one likes a blanket being thrown over them”…

“They’re not even like real men, Ava! They’re all hairless under their shirts. Come on! It’s gross!” I remember zipping my lips shut right after my mate yipped that particularly distasteful ‘observation’ at me,..